Harry S. Pariser

Residing as I do in San Francisco, I’ve long had connected the surname "Redman" with jazz. Joshua’s late father, Dewey, was a well known jazz musician, and I was aware from him through his dates with Ornette Coleman, his membership in the band Old and New Dreams, and his occasional gigs here.

Dewey’s star has been eclipsed by his son, Joshua, who is something of an unintentional jazz star. Born in 1969, Joshua Redman was raised as Joshua Shedroff in Berkeley, California by his mother,

During his long and varied career jazz bassist Charlie Haden has had many collaborations ranging from his duet with Ornette Coleman on the classic album "Soapsuds, Soapsuds" to pianist Keith Jarrett (with whose American Trio he performed) to guitarist Pat Metheny to tango musicians. But Charlie's Liberation Jazz Orchestra holds a special place in his distinguished career.

The group came together during the 1960s and debuted with its self-titled Liberation Music Orchestra in 1969. It f

The T. S. Monk Sextet is making its first-ever San Francisco appearance at the Great American Music Hall. Its bandleader, the ebullient and loquacious drummer T. S. Monk, is the son of legendary pianist Thelonious Monk who would have been ninety years old this year. He last performed the previous year, together with pianist Jason Moran, in a tribute to his father's appearance at Town Hall.

This time around, he's appearing at a more intimate venue and with his band, many of whose membe

Some years back, I turned on KUSF, the San Francisco iconoclastic radio station located at the University of San Francisco, to find myself in the middle of an interview with pianist Matthew Shipp. I was so struck by what he said that I went down to Bruno’s, a bar and restaurant on Mission Street which was programming inventive jazz at the time, and checked him out. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan of his challenging music.

Despite being one of the 20th century’s premier pianists, "Thelonious Sphere Monk" remains unknown to most Americans. An outlandish but sadly apocryphal story brings this point home. Tabitha Soren interviewing Bill Clinton on MTV supposedly asked the presidential candidate who he had dreamed of playing saxophone with. "Thelonious Monk" Clinton replied. "Who is the ‘Loneliest Monk’?" a bewildered Tabitha responded. Thoroughly eccentric yet extremely introverted, Monk was a brilliant pianist and c

"I believe that any feeling of xenophobia and fear comes from ignorance. Often people think that when you are not like them, you are different and therefore you are a threat. It is not true. I think that the problem of xenophobia today is coming from the world economic crisis. Some people, for example, think that as foreigners we are going to take their work, we will take the bread from the mouth. It is not true. It is not like that. This fear has become a political tool to create divisions so t

Salif Keita, 58, a 40-year veteran of the music scene, numbers among Africa’s top musical stars. A man in motion, Salif might be anywhere from Canada to Christchurch within the space of just a few weeks. Born into a royal family, Salif found himself barred by social custom from becoming a musician. As an albino, Salif was an outcast; he found his way in music. He fled a Malian dictatorship to the Ivory Coast and later moved to Paris. He has since returned to Mali where he has built a recording s

An air of both impatience and anticipation hangs in the air at Sir Garfield Sobers Auditorium on the outskirts of Bridgetown, the capital of the Caribbean island nation of Barbados. Legendary singer Anita Baker is set to take the stage to perform at the 2007 Barbados Jazz Festival. First, everyone stands to sing the Barbados national anthem. Then the curtains part to reveal Anita’s band and then Anita herself.

Having kept the fans waiting for more than an hour, Anita apologizes obliquely

At around eight PM on the second Thursday in April, Randy Weston takes the stage at Yoshi's to begin a four-night run at the intimate Oakland, California club. Weston hasn’t performed in the Bay Area in recent years save at large halls festivals, so this is a rare chance to see this accomplished octogenerian master of the jazz piano at close range. He has invited a very special guest for this gig: legendary tenor saxophonist Billy Harper. Originally from Texas, Harper has played with the like

The Barbados Jazz Festival is a very special event. Attended largely by locals and returning Bajans (as Barbadians call themselves), along with a smattering of Americans and resident expats, the festival takes place in several halls (which host evening performances) as well as in Farley Hill National Park in the island’s north where two outdoor afternoon concerts take place. Despite the "jazz" in the name, the festival hosts mainly pop and jazz-fusion artists because that’s what, from the produc